The Emotional Impact on Victims of Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying

Abstract

We examine the emotional impact caused to victims of bullying in its traditional form, both directly and indirectly, as well as bullying inflicted by use of new technologies such as mobile phones and the Internet. A sample of 1,671 adolescents and young people responded to a questionnaire which asked if they had been victims of various forms of bullying, as well as the emotions this caused. The results show that although traditional bullying affected significantly more young people than cyberbullying, the latter affected one in ten adolescents. Analysis of the emotions caused showed that traditional bullying produced a wide variety of impacts, with the victims being divided into five different emotional categories, while indirect bullying and cyberbullying presented a narrower variety of results with the victims being classifiable into just two groups: Those who said that they had not been emotionally affected and those who simultaneously suffered from a wide variety of negative emotions. The influence of age, gender, and severity on each emotional category is also analyzed.

Cyberbullying: The hidden side of college students

“…In our sample, we found that the largest percentage of victims and aggressors were women, which is consistent with the frequencies found by Kowalski and Limber (2007) and Ortega, Elipe, Mora-Mérchan, et al (2009). However, the aggressors from our study report that the victims were generally boys, whereas girls individually and victims report that the most common perpetrators were mixed groups followed by boys individually (Li, 2008).…”

“…Indirect types of aggression are more frequent in cyberbullying, where girls outnumber boys (Kowalski & Limber, 2007). Victims' rates are also higher for girls Ortega, Elipe, Mora-Mérchan, Calmaestra, & Vega, 2009). …”

“…Additionally, Ortega, Elipe, Mora-Mérchan, et al (2009) found that nearly 2 out of 10 students considered themselves victims of some form of bullying, and only 1 in 10 considered themselves victims of cyberbullying. However, there is a higher percentage of students (1 in 5 students) that are considered victims of both types of bullying.…”

Do Cyber Victimization and Traditional Victimization Form Separate Factors? Evidence from a Preliminary Study

“…Overall, these results are potentially useful for guiding resource allocation for anti-bullying programs [2], [6], [12]. Specifically, the findings suggest that such programs need to target both boys and girls across all varieties of victimization, focusing not just the victimization that can be seen and heard, but also the behaviors taking place behind closed doors and off school grounds [2], [22]- [24].…”

Personality characteristics of victims of illegal attacks on the Internet

“…[11], проведенном среди испанских подростков, обнаружено, что наиболее распространенной эмоциональной реакцией жертв является гнев, а психологическими последствиями киберзапугивания -стресс, депрессия и чувство одиночества. Аналогичные результаты были получены на финской [15], австралийской [16], южнокорейской [10], североамериканской [9] выборках.…”